Pile feeder



I. F. NILES FILE FEEDER A ril 17, 1951 Filed May 25, 1948 9 INVEN TOR.

/,?|//N6 E/Y/LEs roe/V575 fie. 1 BY Patented Apr. 17, 1 951 UNITED STATES PATENT n PILE FEEDER Irving F. Niles, Shaker'Heights, Ohio", assignorto Harris-Seybold Company, "Cleveland, Ohio, a

corporation of Delaware Application May 25, 1948', Serial No. 29,033

This invention relates to improvements in pile feeders, that is to say mechanism for feeding sheets from the top of a pile. In pile feeders it is conventional practice to provide auto matically operated mechanism for raising the pile stepby step in order that the surface of the pile may be maintained at the proper level for cooperation with the sheet separating and forwarding means. -To this end the support is attached to four cables which extend upwardly over pulleys and then downwardly to a drum that is turned through a smallangle intermittently to raise the support step by step as required by the removal of sheets from the top of the pile.

When sheets that have been printed with one or' more colors are to be put through a printing press the second time or are to be otherwise treated, as by being put through a folding ma- 7 Claims. (01. 271-452) bers l2. The pile of papersheets, indicated at P, is' carried upon a vertically movable support,

chine, it frequently happens that'the' pile which may be several thousand sheets deep is uneven, due to more ink in certain areas than in others. In the case of stream feeders particularly, where the sheets are handled at their rear ends, it is important that the: sheets at the top of the pile have their forward edges approximately level in order that they may move readily into the bite i .of the pull-out rolls.

The present invention has for its primary purpose the provision of means for quickly and easily raising or lowering one orthe other of the for-.

ward corners of the pilesuppcrt in order to maintain the top of the pile at its forward end level transversely;

Another object is the provision of means for this purpose which may be caused to function 7 Without interruption of the feeding operation and by means of controls accessible from one side only of the feeder. V I

Still another object is the provision of means for effecting the adjustment by varying the height of the mounting of the individual pulleys at the forward end of the pile. Y

Other objects and features of novelty will appear as I proceed with the description of that embodiment of the invention which, for the purposes of the present application, I have illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 isv an elevational side view of a feeder V embodying theinvention, the view being more or less diagrammatic and all parts not directly related to the invention being omitted.

Fig. 2 is a fragmental plan View of the same. In the drawing I have shown at If! and H vertical frame members which are joined at each side of the machine by horizontal frame memwhich may comprise 'a platform 14 restingupon transverse bars l5 with longitudinal bars. it, one at each side of the machine, carrying the transverse'bars. I

On each of the frame members l2 there'are journaled a rear pulley l1 and a forward pulley l8. Cables l9 and 26 are attached to the rear ends'fof'the bars i6 and extend upwardly to the pulleys ll, over those pulleys and pulleys l8,'and' downwardly to a wi'ndingdrum 2| which is keyed to a shaft 22. It should be understood that while I have referred to the part 2| as a drum, it may be constitutedof a plurality of sheaves of uniform diameter keyed to the shaft 22. To the forward ends of the two bars it there are attached cables 23 and 2 3 which extend upwardly over pulleys 25 and 26 and downwardly to drum 2|. The cables I9, 20, 23 and 25 are secured to the drum 2! by suitable means, and any rotation of the drum will produce equal vertical movement in all of the four corners of the support. The shaft 22 isrotated clockwise through a small angle intermittently to raise the pile support a small increment, the winding mechanism being under control of a feeler, notshown, normally engaging theupper surface of the pile. Mechanism for this purpose is well known in the art and hence is not illustrated herein.

Pulleys25 and 26 turn onpivots Zl' and 28 supported by bifurcated 'subframes 29 and 3!]. These subframes are movable to adjust pivots 2i and 28 up or down. Preferably they are mounted on pivots 3i and 32 Supp0rted in brackets 33 and 34' bolted to frame members 12. The forward ends of subframes 29 and are mounted for adjustment vertically. Subframe 29 is provided with a noddle pin 35 that is bored and threaded to take-a screw 35 which extends through a.

I smooth clearancehole in a stud '3? that is V mounted in the frame of the machine.

Aworm gear 38 is keyed to screw 36 above stud 3'5, The screw has a head 39 which bears on the woringear 38, by which means theload 40 is a short shaft 1 which is journaled in the frame of the machine.

is transferred to stud 3i.

i It has a squared end ll for the. reception of a crank by means of which it may be turned through any desired angle. Shaft All carries a worm 42 which meshes with worm gear 38. Consequently as shaft 40 is turned in one direction or the otherthe screw 35 is rotated and raises or lowers the forward end of subframe 29, which of course elevates or lowers the forward end of bar IE on that side of the machine without in any way interfering with the operation of drum 2|.

The means for individually adjusting the forward end of subframe 39 is similar in most respects to that for adjusting subframe 29, there being a vertical screw to which is keyed a worm gear 44 and a worm 45 that is fixed upon a shaft 46.

Shaft 46 however extends entirely across the machine and projects outwardly alongside and parallel to shaft 40, where it is provided with a squared end 41 of the same dimensions as squared end 4|. A single crank can be applied to either of these squared ends for effecting adjustment of the subframes 29 or 30.

At the forward end of the pile there are pile guides 50 the upper extremities of which are deflected forwardly, so that as the uppermost sheet of the pile is floated off and carried forward by an air blast its forward edge is guided upwardly into the bite of a pair of pull-out rolls. As illustrated herein these rolls comprise a lower continuous roll 5| which may be driven continuously or intermittently, and a series of disks 52 together constituting the upper roll, these disks being carried at the outer ends of arms 53 fixed upon a rock shaft 54. Disks 52 are lowered intermittently at the proper time in the cycle for pressing the sheet against the driven roll 5|, thereby providing traction for enabling the roll 5| to drive the sheet forward over a short table 55 and onto a series of traveling tapes 55 by which the sheets are conveyed forwardly either singly or in a stream.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a pile feeder, a frame, an elevator pile support movable up and down in said frame, pulley and cable mechanism for raising said support step b step, said mechanism comprising cables attached to the forward end of said support and a pair of pulleys over which said last named cables run, and a separate adjustable means for varying the height of each of said pulleys, said adjustable means being operable while said pulley and cable mechanism is in operation.

2. A pile feeder as defined in claim 1, comprising means accessible from one side of said feeder for actuating both of said adjustable means.

3. A pile feeder as defined in claim 1, comprising parallel shafts journ'aled in said frame, each of said shafts being adapted to actuate the adjustable means for one of said pulleys, and said shafts having manual actuating means at the same side of the feeder.

4. In a pile feeder, a frame, anelevator pile support movable up and down in saidframe, pulley and cable mechanism for raising said sup port step by step, said mechanism comprising cables attached to the forward end of said sup-* port and a pair of pulleys over which said cables run, two subframes mounted on said frame, one at each side thereof, in which said pulleys are carried, and means for adjusting said subframes up and down individually.

5. A pile feeder as defined in claim 4, wherein said adjusting means comprises vertical screws carried by the frame running through nuts on the subframes, and means for turning said screws individually.

6. In a pile feeder, a frame, an elevator pile support movable up and down in said frame, a cable attached to each of the two front corners and each of the two rear corners of said support, a winding drum adapted to be actuated step by step to which all of said cables are connected, pulley means over which the cables attached to the rear corners of said support run on their way to said drum, a pair of pulleys over which the front cables run on their Way to said drum,

separate subframes on which said last named pulleys are mounted, and means for adjusting said subframes individuall up and down, whereby said support may be warped by manipulation of said adjusting means to maintain the forward top edge of the paper pile substantially horizontal.

7. In a pile feeder, a frame, an elevator pile support movable up and down in said frame, four cables attached respectively to the four corners of said support, mechanism for winding said cables simultaneously and to the same degree, pulleys over which said cables run between said support and said winding mechanism, and adjustable means for raising or lowering one of said pulleys to vary the relative height of one corner of the support.

IRVING F. NILES REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

